@Calreader It’s not automatic. You have to apply. So it’s not “I applied to the school and they gave me $41,000”. It’s “I applied and got in, and then applied for a scholarship”.
I got a 31 and have gotten into Cornell, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, NYU, Brandeis, Colby, Kings College London and a few other random schools. Also waitlisted at UChicago. A 31 is fine. If she has the EC’s and GPA to back it up she should be fine 
@fourfourfour - any hooks? URM?
@ReadyToRoll no hooks whatsoever. I’m chinese so definitely not a URM lol i think it helped that many of my EC’s (volunteering in Mexico, teaching international students etc) supplemented my major (development studies) and I was able to write about that in my essay.
I didn’t read my letters of recommendation but I guess they must have been really good.
Also, I applied for Fall 2015.
@fourfourfour - which school did you choose? Is Development Studies a Sociology-type major? Sounds interesting!
@ReadyToRoll I chose Cornell because it was the most financially feasible and had the best program for my major! Yes, it’s a sociology type major that focuses on third world countries. I want to work with NGO’s in the future.
I have a 30 ACT, though I submitted my 2080 SAT (I think that’s equivalent to 30/31) to schools. Got a higher score on the January one but the school’s I got into with the earlier 2080 - Georgia State Honors w/ merit money, North Carolina State Scholars Program, and Rice w/ 24k/yr merit (seriously).
@z0e101 what is your major and other factor you thought were helpful for getting into Rice? Excellent acceptance.
@ReadyToRoll - I am unclear where you are coming from. I have been clear in all of my posts that students should not think or be forced to think that the some idolized “top” school is their only course in life. I stand by my contention that only the helicopter, anal parents on CC and some stressed out high school students think that a 30/31 on the ACT and a 3.5 GPA is somehow bad. Kids go to good colleges every year with these stats. I work with these kids and try to work with parents to find the best fit for their kid, not the best named school. Any review of my posts, including my own personal history, will clearly show that I am not in the business of making kids feel defensive about anything.
And yes, its no secret that both me and my child went to Yale. It was quite a feat for me from my disadvantaged public school on the wrong side of DC. And I did indeed fit that profile of the lower scores (I guess score one for affirmative action back in 1978). So yeah, I am proud. I am also proud that I could provide a much better learning environment for my child. Who, by the way, is up in New Haven working in a public school as the liaison bringing Yale services and programs to the students in the school. She truly knows “that to whom much is given, much is expected” and she appreciates the charmed life she has lived. I will in no way apologize for being able to provide it.
I guess now my defensiveness is showing, so I will end here. I think there are other posters on here who know where my heart lies.
@Tperry1982 - no one on this thread has said anything was bad about their kid’s GPA. But in your first post you quoted someone and then lectured her on the way she referred to her particular kid’s GPA, and in your second post you criticized another poster for taking the SAT too many times. Neither post answered the question posed at the beginning of the thread about where your kid with a 30 to 31 ACT got in. Now in your third post you are going on about “helicopter” and “anal” parents idolizing schools.
But that’s not the point of this thread. This is an information-sharing thread for kids with 30 to 31 ACTs and not one poster is talking about idolizing schools. We are talking about scores and what is reasonable school-wise; the whole point of the thread is that there are great schools to attend with a 30 or a 31 and to generate ideas.
Regarding Yale: You’ve mentioned Yale twice in your three posts on this thread. Many of us also have kids who went to Ivies or went to Ivies ourselves. I attended an Ivy, but I’m fairly sure that I’ve only mentioned it two times (including now) in my 1,300 posts. It’s nice that you’re proud of your and your daughter’s achievements, but there are plenty of CC threads to discuss Yale and this is not really one of them.
I think my posts speak for themselves. I’m done.
Yes, please be done.
My son had an ACT of 30 (although SAT of 2060 so that may be more like a 31) and a 3.3 GPA and was accepted to University of Maryland, University of Miami, Pitt, Penn State, Tulane, and College of Charleston. He was rejected from Michigan. HTH!
Friend got into Denver with a 29 and got the second highest merit award. 4.3 weighted GPA.
Also got into U Portland, top scholarship, TCU top scholarship.
Got into SMU, BU, no scholarship.
My D had a 31 and 4.0 weighted. 6 AP’s.
Into SMU, Syracuse, Iowa, w scholarship
Into BU, no merit aid. Grant only.
Got into U Texas and U Washington, not a penny. Don’t apply to state schools unless you have researched and know that they give merit aid to non residents, and what the requirements are for that.
@Sophmore1 I spent a lot of time on my essays. About a month thinking about the topics I wanted to write about, doing drafts and rewrites, etc. I didn’t let my parents or family see them until after I was done, only a couple non-family people. The Rice supplement is quite long compared to other schools so it gave me a lot of opportunity to demonstrate what I think was the best part of all my apps: writing. I applied to the School of Humanities also so I think that coincided well with my writing and ECs. I also focused on really specific things in the “Why Rice” type essays - specific classes I wanted to take there, departments I was interested in, how I wanted to contribute to Rice’s historical journal, etc. Basically I tried to show them that I wasn’t just a person throwing out an app to every top-25 school; I was really passionate about Rice and why I thought I’d be a good fit. Hope this helps!
Follow this link - http://www.stateuniversity.com/rank/act_75pctl_rank.html
It is colleges ranked by 75% ACT scores.
First, don’t worry, everyone wishes they had another point or two on the ACT. Even the kids that got 32’s and 33’s.
31 is a very good number that will give you great opportunities.
We used this for Child #3. It worked perfectly. He got into all his schools, but his 2 that were slight reaches did not give enough money to attend. We told him that might happen, so it wasn’t a shock. He had 5 other fantastic offers to pick from.
So, go to the list, here is my free advice prediction on how it works. (of course, your rigor and GPA will bump you up and down a bit). I found that the kids are admitted on their grades and rigor, but merit aid is much more determined by test score.
Apply to schools that have a 75th percentile of 31 or 32. Anything above that is a reach. You may get in, but low chance of money. I’m assuming you don’t want to pay full price if you can help it.
31 schools - you should get some merit aid, maybe the highest or second highest level the school gives.
30 schools - you may get the top merit award
28-29 schools - you may be a strong candidate for their full tuition awards
The only problem with this method, is you may have too many schools to choose from in the end! But, you won’t have to apply to more than 6 or 7, because again, you will get acceptances. Those app’s cost $100 apiece, when all is said and done. Plus 2-3 essays each.
Also, be careful with out of state public schools, many do not give merit aid. Read their websites.
Good luck!
^^Nice list. It’s a bit old, so current scores may be higher. We used a similar approach. I looked at collegesimply.com to get a list of colleges by ACT score.
HS senior with 31 ACT, 3.8 uw gpa got into all her schools - Colby, American- AU Scholars, George Washington, Trinity University, Austin College and Texas A & M Honors. She received enough aid at all the school except GWU.
interesting thread; thanks for initiating
@ReadyToRoll, I post mostly in response to your query about your experience with students transferring at Tulane. My son took the ACT only once, scored a 29, and did not submit the score. He took the SAT 3 times with slight improvements to end with a superscore of 2170. With that score, he was ultimately accepted to a number of good schools UofM Engineering, Haverford, Centre (with merit), Case Western (with merit), and Tulane (with full-tuition scholarship) where he now attends, completing his freshman year.
So far, I am unaware of anyone that is planning to transfer; admittedly my information is limited to that provided from my son who seems to be happy. That being said, I do actually ask him about this from time to time. I am aware of one student from our private high school who transferred after his freshman year at Tulane to attend Cornell, but his circumstance was a little different in that he had been admitted (in some way) to Cornell with approval to transfer after one year of going elsewhere.
I do think perhaps one contributing factor to transfers might pertain to the fact that the Tulane student body is composed of students travelling a great distance from their homes (many, many east and west-coasters fly to NOLA). I once saw a statistic showing Tulane as having the student body with the greatest average travel distance for all schools.
Also, I think that it’s possible that some students perhaps are surprised by the academic workload present at Tulane, a school that by many accounts is noted for its and New Orleans’ “party”,“parade”, & “festival”-laden mystique,
My son is, so far, satisfied with his experiences at Tulane, is doing well academically & socially, but is definitely working his tail off. I’ll keep you posted if I learn anything more about transfers.
Our son had a 30 on his only ACT attempt. His ACT score was significantly higher than the SAT. He had a 3.8 unweighted GPA. He was admitted to Wooster and CMU and his only rejection was Cornell. He is currently a sophomore at Princeton. He was a recruited athlete and was rejected by Cornell after comitting to Princeton. I would say that this was unusual and it was influenced by athletics, but an example of what is possible.